


Reyuxmas - A Hogwarts Tale

by CartoonJessie



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Christmas, F/M, First Kiss, First Love, Harry Potter Crossover - Freeform, Hogwarts AU, Reyuxmas, Romance, they both have sad backstories
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-14
Updated: 2019-02-04
Packaged: 2019-09-18 03:36:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 16,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16987389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CartoonJessie/pseuds/CartoonJessie
Summary: Written for Reyuxmas, this is the story of how young Rey and Hux meet at Hogwarts, how they bond over their hatred of Christmas, and how they eventually fall in love! Merry Christmas, ho ho ho!





	1. Food

The Slytherin common room was deserted these Christmas holidays, and Armitage Hux didn’t really mind.  
He didn’t enjoy Christmas. Never had. He hadn’t even gone to the Christmas feast the day before. There were only a dozen students left at Hogwarts these holidays, and so far he had managed to avoid all of them.   
Instead, he roamed the courtyards by himself, spent hours reading in the library, and had the Slytherin common room all to himself. And right now, he could fill his rumbling belly with leftovers and breakfast while the other students were most likely still sleeping or unwrapping presents in their common rooms. He didn’t even need to go to the Great Hall, and instead remained in the dungeons as he headed to the kitchens.   
Once he entered it by tickling the painting of a pear, he was greeted by a few house elves.   
“It’s master Hux!” a few of them said cheerfully.   
“Yes I’ve come to have some breakfast,” he announced, his back rigid as his arms were crossed.   
“Yes, yes!” one of the younger house elves said eagerly. “That’s great, please, come, sir, have a seat!”  
As he followed the house elf towards a table, he froze. There was a girl, seated at the table, a small buffet laid out in front of her, and she was looking at him with wide eyes as she slowly munched on whatever she’d just put in her mouth.   
The house elves pulled up a chair for Hux, and he didn’t dare to protest that he didn’t want to be seated with whoever-she-was, and instead sat down, mumbling “morning” before he stared at his empty plate, his stomach rumbling loudly at the exact same moment. He almost felt like he could die from embarrassment and hoped she hadn’t heard anything.   
Though she didn’t say anything, he saw out of the corner of his eye how she slid her plate closer to him, and on it she saw a piece of toast, covered in apricot jam.   
“Eat something,” she said, her voice soft but warm, and as he looked up at her, he saw that she had a curious and kind look in her eyes. “Didn’t you eat anything at the feast yesterday?” she wondered the moment she caught his gaze.  
He shook his head. “I didn’t go to the feast,” he admitted to the girl.   
“Neither did I,” she admitted immediately. “I hate Christmas.”   
He had been very reluctant to talk to her, but at that confession, he raised his eyebrows and even took the toast from her plate, holding it in his hands as he said: “I thought I was the only one.”  
She chuckled at that remark, baring her teeth before she bit her lip and tried not to smile too widely. “It’s not that I don’t want to eat good food,” she admitted, making herself another sandwich as she spoke. “But I hate it when people are happy for the sake of being happy – like this is the best time of year. It’s not.”   
Hux immediately nodded and swallowed away the piece of toast he’d been eating. “Exactly,” he agreed. “I don’t feel like being merry with people I don’t know or care about just because it’s Christmas. I wouldn’t do it on any other day of the year either.”  
Somehow, that amused her again, for she laughed.   
“Spoken like a true Slytherin,” she teased him with a small wink. “What’s your name? I’m Rey.”  
“Hux,” he replied, surprised by how quickly he gave her his name. “Are you in your second year?” he asked.   
“Yes. And are you in the third year?”  
He nodded. “What house are you in?”  
Her black robes didn’t give it away, and she wasn’t wearing her school uniform, but just a gray sweater over a black skirt.   
“Ravenclaw. Were you here last year as well?” she wondered. “Because I remember that professor Flitwick expressed disappointment that one of the Slytherin students had not joined us for the feast. Unfortunately, I hadn’t dared to come up with an excuse, being a first year and such, but this year I pretended to feel a little under the weather.”   
“Oh, same,” Hux said with a small smile. “They’re going to think there’s an epidemic now, even if we’re both fit as a fiddle.”  
She chuckled again, and he was surprised by how much he liked it when she did. There were dimples in her cheek when she smiled, and he felt a little queasy because of it.  
“So why don’t you like Christmas?” he asked her, wondering if she had a similar background to him.   
She shrugged, trying to pretend it was no problem for her to talk about it, but he noticed how her voice tensed and how she had a slight tremble in her lip all of a sudden.   
“It’s a time to be with family. I don’t have a family. And hearing my friends talk about their Christmas makes me feel even worse. I don’t want to know what presents they’re getting, while my own parents abandoned me when I was five.”   
Hux hadn’t expected to hear such a story, and was quiet for a moment, not certain how to respond.   
“Oh, I’m… I’m sorry,” he said, before he admitted: “I don’t like it either because of family. I have a father still, but he doesn’t want to see me when he can avoid it. He doesn’t want me home now. And he certainly never got me a Christmas present. I hate it too when other people talk about the great stuff they have done and gotten at Christmas, and I’m just feeling bitter about the fact that we’re not all as lucky.”  
She nodded in agreement. “Santa isn’t real for kids like us who don’t have parents that actually care.”  
Seeing Hux’s frown, she quickly said: “Santa is invented by muggles, to…”  
“Yeah, I know who he is,” Hux interrupted her. “I’m taking muggle studies this year.”   
He saw how she frowned at that. “I thought Slytherins didn’t like muggle studies,” she said carefully.  
“My mother was a muggle,” Hux explained. “She died when I was very young, but I wanted to understand what sort of person she might have been. To be honest, I’m not much wiser now than I was in the beginning of the school year.”   
He was warmed by her empathic gaze, and realized that he was eating slower than he had planned, ignoring the house elves as they slaved away around them. They continued talking to one another about their mutual dislike for Christmas and what the best hiding spots in the castle were, as well as their favorite subjects at school.   
While Herbology and Defense against the Dark Arts were Rey’s favorites, Hux enjoyed History of Magic and Care of Magical Creatures most. Rey had never met anyone who preferred History over any of the other subjects at Hogwarts, but Hux seemed to have a strong liking to books, especially considering the fact he was a Slytherin.   
By the time they couldn’t take another bite from the foods the house elves had put on display for them, they realized that they had to get up and leave, sooner rather than later. One of the older elves was giving them a bit of a stink-eye because it seemed like he wanted to use their table for his own work.   
As they thanked the house elves for their early breakfast and headed to the corridor again, it was time to say goodbye, for now.   
“It was nice getting to know you, Hux,” Rey said with her hands in the pockets of her robes, her gaze a little shy as they stood beside each other. Hux was well over a head taller than her – his growth spurt having been quite dramatic the past year. Though most boys his age had a tendency to hunch over, he stood incredibly tall and stiff, not as clumsy as anyone would expect from a teenager.  
“Maybe we’ll see each other again this holiday?” she said carefully, with hope in her tone that even Hux was able to spot.   
“Maybe,” he replied mysteriously. “But I haven’t told you all my hiding spots yet.”   
“That’s alright,” she said with a smile. “That gives me a bit of a challenge. Now I will have to look for them.”  
He was flattered by her attention, and beamed proudly. “I wish you good luck with that,” he said sincerely. “Take care, Rey.”  
She chuckled again. “You too, Hux!”


	2. Scarves

After meeting Hux during her winter holidays, Rey wanted nothing more but to see him again.   
But he hadn’t lied when he had told her that he had the best hiding spots in all of Hogwarts – he was always impossible to find, no matter how long she roamed the corridors.   
It was already the last weekend of the winter holiday when Rey bumped into him as she turned a corner outside of the Ravenclaw common room.   
“Hux!” She cried out his name in joy, and she saw the way his eyes lit up because of it. “I finally found you!”  
He chuckled, amused by that statement.   
“Not really,” he said. “I found _you_ – not in a very difficult spot either, right outside your common room.”   
As he looked at her and saw how she was wearing her Ravenclaw scarf, he seemed pleased. “You were going outside?”  
She nodded. “Yes, you too?”   
“I am now. Will you join me to the Slytherin common room so I can grab a scarf of my own?”  
Rey immediately agreed, and there was a small spring in her step as she joined him through the corridors. He walked a little bit faster than her, especially with his long legs, and once again she was baffled by how upright he walked, how fancy he seemed because of it. It made her feel like she was walking next to a prince, and not just a third-year Slytherin.  
When she asked him about what he had done during the holiday, he started telling her about the books he had read, and by the time they reached the Slytherin common room, Rey knew everything there was to know about the kobold wars.   
When Hux gave the password to the Slytherin common room, Rey was surprised by how he didn’t even ask her to cover her ears or anything, and when he invited her inside, she felt privileged like she never had before.   
She looked at the black leather armchairs that were spread all across the room, at the glass wall that showed the contents of the Great Lake to them, and at the green curtains, which were the only source of color in the room.   
She could see that Hux had made the place his own these holidays, for his scarf, hat and gloves were just lying on the table, and as he put them on and covered his ginger hair, Rey smiled as she looked at him.  
He seemed to blush a little because of her attentive gaze, but he also seemed to be happy with her company, and it meant the world to Rey as they headed outside. The grass was crisp underneath their feet as they headed towards the Great Lake, and Rey told him about all the spots at Hogwarts where she had looked for him, and he told her if she’d been hot or cold in finding some of his hiding spots. It was a fun game that they kept up for quite a long while, their feet carrying them around the lake, even if it was a walk that took hours, and when they were halfway through it, Hux suddenly stopped Rey as she was talking, his hand against her stomach as he wanted her to stop.   
He shushed her before she could ask what was wrong, and then she heard it too – a cry, high-pitched, but weak, as though it came from a tiny creature somewhere nearby.  
They looked at one another for a brief moment, surprise, but also determination in their eyes before they headed towards where they had heard the cry come from.  
As Rey looked at the forest floor, trying to find the source, Hux did the same, and he was the one who suddenly knelt down and whispered: “Rey!”  
She was by his side in an instant, her hand on his shoulder before she knelt down as well, and what they saw broke her heart.   
A small ginger cat, only a month old at most, sat shivering on the forest ground, crying desperately as it longed for its mother.    
Rey reached out for it, but Hux grabbed her wrist to stop her.   
“I’m not sure that’s wise,” he told her strictly, quickly explaining: “If the mother is nearby, she might reject him if she smells our scent on him.”   
Rey looked around, and then back at the baby kitten.   
“But if we don’t help the baby, it might freeze to death. It’s too cold, and look how small it is!”  
“I know,” Hux said, a frown on his face as he was thinking about it, looking around him as well as though he was calculating the best course of action.  
Rey had tears in her eyes as she looked how the creature shivered, and she was about to reach out for the creature again when Hux beat her to it, offering his warm hand to the kitten, and it immediately got up to steal as much of its heat as it could, its small legs still rather wobbly, maybe not just from the cold but also from its young age.  
“I’ll take care of it,” he decided, lifting the kitten into his arms. “We can’t risk leaving it here. Chances are too big that the mother either gave up on it, or encountered a bigger danger that she was unable to fight.” He shook his head as he sensed how cold the creature was. “We have a long trek back ahead of us. I hope the kitten will manage for so long as well. It’s so cold.”   
Rey listened, glad that they would be helping the kitten, and as she saw how Hux held it in his hands, she figured that the kitten could be slightly warmer if she helped, and she undid her scarf, folding in in four before she offered it to Hux, who immediately understood her intention.   
They wrapped up their little protégée, and Hux carried it in his arms as they walked back, and they spoke about what they knew about kittens.   
Turned out it wasn’t that much at all, but Rey knew that there was a book on muggle animals in the library, and they agreed that Rey would look for it straight away when they were back in the castle, and that Hux would take the kitten to the kitchens so they could feed it some milk so it could regain its strength.  
With about an hour left to go, Hux suddenly noticed how Rey was shivering, and how she was hiding as much of her head into her cloak as she could. She hadn’t been wearing a hat like him, and she had given up her scarf too, and the wind was icy cold around the lake. No wonder she was freezing.   
“Hold on,” he said as he stopped for a moment, and as he gave Rey the little bundle that held the kitten which was now sleeping, he undid his scarf and arranged it around Rey’s neck, who was quite surprised by the gesture.   
“I don’t want you to freeze,” he told her, keeping the hat to himself. “Now come on, let’s get back as fast as we can! We’ve got a kitten to save!” 

 

  
While Rey was in the library, Hux was surrounded by house elves who were more than eager to help out, and who seemed to know a few things about kittens as well.   
One of them, called Maz, wore glasses and had a deep but shrill voice, and was eager to help Hux.  
“It must be about a month old,” Maz told Hux as she prepared a bottle of milk. “They drink mother’s milk, but they can begin eating some solid foods as well. I can prepare some and make sure you have it at the appropriate feeding times. I think it also needs to be fed at night – I can help with that while you sleep. And whatever you do, never give it cow’s milk.”  
Hux nodded quickly, glad to accept all the help it could. He watched the little kitten as it had woken up and was now kneading Rey’s scarf with its paws, and he wondered: “Why is it doing that? Is it happy?”  
The house elf chuckled. “It wants milk. Here.”  
As Hux took the small bottle, he wondered where the elf had found it in the first place, and as he brought the bottle to the kitten’s mouth, it found its way to the milk immediately, eagerly drinking from the bottle.   
Rey walked in only a few moments later, a heavy book in her arms which she carefully plopped down on the table next to where Hux was feeding the kitten. She saw that it was still seated in her scarf, and smiled warmly at the sight.   
“We think it’s a month old,” Hux told Rey. “Have you found anything yet?”  
She shook her head. “I haven’t read anything yet, I came here as soon as I could.”  
As she opened the book and headed to the chapter about cats, she began reading, and though Hux was curious about what the book said, he was also completely enamored by the kitten, turning to the house elf for a moment to ask: “Is it a boy or a girl?”  
The house elf gently lifted the kitten for a moment and examined it, replying immediately: “A girl…” before she handed the kitten back to Hux, who placed it back in the scarf, his hand by its side so it could steal some of its warmth.   
He tried to come up with a name, going over a hundred in his mind before he found one that he thought fit, and he brought his face closer to the kitten, happy with how it purred against him and sometimes cried.   
“What is it, Millicent?” he asked sweetly. “Don’t worry, we’re going to take care of you.”  
“Uh-oh.”  
Hux turned to Rey, who looked rather pale as she had read something.   
“What is it?” he wondered, not understanding why she looked so concerned.  
“It says here that when you find a kitten alone, that you shouldn’t assume it’s abandoned, and that its mother might still be back within two to three hours. Usually they’re out hunting.”  
Hux paled as well now. “But it was such a bad spot to leave a kitten!” he argued. “There was no shelter from the cold!”   
“Maybe she got out of her shelter?” Rey suggested, but she wasn’t certain either and bit her lip for a moment. “Should we return her?”  
Hux didn’t want to – he honestly wanted to keep Millicent, but he also knew that his father would never allow him to bring a cat home, and it was with a heavy heart that he got up from the kitchen chair.   
“Let’s try to,” he said sadly, picking Millicent up again and bundling her up warmly in Rey’s scarf.

 

 

It was evening already and the forest was completely dark as they returned to the spot where they had found Millicent.   
Hux had asked the house elves to give him another scarf, so that they were now both warm again as they stood not too far from the lake.   
“We should wait,” Rey said, and as she sat down on the ground, she wrapped her arms around her legs, readjusting her cloak so she was warmest.   
Hux joined her by her side, Millicent warmly in his lap as they remained quiet and waited, hoping that the mother would show up soon. They didn’t illuminate their wands as they sat there in the darkness, instead just listening to the sounds of the forest. There were owls and bats in the distance, and every now and then they heard the wind rustle through the leaves, or the water of the Great Lake plop behind them whenever the Giant Octopus surfaced nearby, but other than that there was silence, until that too was broken.   
Rey had begun to shiver, and every now and then her teeth clattered as she waited, and as Hux noticed, he moved a little closer, opening his cloak so he could wrap it around her as well, saying: “These cloaks are ridiculously big. I can fit four me’s inside of it.”  
Rey looked up at him in gratitude. “Thank you…”  
She leaned against his side, and no further words were spoken as he sat there with her, glad he wasn’t alone. He wasn’t certain he would be equally brave to walk into the dark forest at night without her.   
Every now and then Millicent cried out, maybe to protest against the cold, or maybe to call its mother, but even then no mother showed up, and they feared that maybe the mother had abandoned the baby only due to their intervening.   
By midnight, they walked back to the castle again, a little exhausted from the cold and all the exercise that day, and they were both yawning by the time they entered the castle again.   
Luckily for them, no teacher spotted them, and perhaps no one was even aware that they had spent the evening outside, and they walked to the Slytherin common room together.   
Hux didn’t object to the fact that she wasn’t going straight back to the Ravenclaw common room, and didn’t protest either when she entered his common room again, where they both sat down on a large rug in front of the fire.   
“Hold Millicent,” he told her for a moment, and as she took her bundle of a scarf with the tiny kitten inside it, he went to look for some blankets. When he returned, he wrapped one around Rey’s shoulders, who smiled happily.   
“Thank you,” she whispered.   
“Do you think the fireplace is dangerous for Millicent?” he wondered, his voice tired. “Will she walk in there when we’re not looking?”  
Rey shook her head. “I don’t think animals are that stupid. Or else they’d all be dead, I guess. They probably know fire is dangerous.”  
Hux agreed, realizing that he was close to falling asleep right where he sat, and he crawled to one of the sofa’s to pull out two pillows, putting one besides Rey before he lay down, and without further words, Rey put Millicent’s bundle between them and did the same as him, closing her eyes as she rested her head on the pillow and listened to the crackling of fire until she fell asleep.   


 

In the morning, Hux woke because of a strange sensation in his face, and he became aware that Millicent had found a way out of her bundle, and she was now rubbing her face against his, and he groaned a little as he opened his eyes.   
He realized that behind Millicent, Rey was awake, one hand underneath her head as she looked at him.   
“She thinks you’re her mother now,” she said quietly, with another smile that showed him her dimples, and he felt a pleasant squeeze in his stomach as he looked at her, happy that she was still with him.   
“You think so?” he asked, his voice still deep with sleep.   
Rey nodded. “Must be the hair color,” she joked, and though she would have liked to stay with Hux for a while longer, her stomach started rumbling rather loudly, and Hux’s eyes grew wide as she shot him an apologetic gaze and got up.   
“I should get something to eat. I’m feeling rather faint. Shall I bring you something back?”  
At the idea that she would take care of him like that, he couldn’t help but smile, and he nodded happily. “Yes, thank you, that would be great.”  
As she excused herself and left the common room again, he couldn’t help but grin as he looked at Millicent. These Christmas holidays had left him with more than one new friend.   


 

Rey spent the rest of the weekend in Hux’s company, playing with Millicent. Hux even allowed her to bottle-feed the kitten, and she was completely enamored by both gingers by the time the other students were expected to return.   
“They’ll be here in thirty minutes,” Hux announced sadly, and Rey knew she wasn’t welcome then. No other Slytherins would be happy with a Ravenclaw hanging out in their midst, especially one who was muggleborn like Rey.   
“No worries,” she said as she petted Millicent. “I understand. I’m sad to go though.”   
“I’m sad you have to go,” Hux admitted, his fingers also petting Millicent as they sat side by side, and he slowly brought his fingers to her hand, causing her to freeze as they touched.   
They didn’t dare to look each other in the eye, but they slowly turned the palms of their hands to one another, before they warmly rested against each other, Hux’s fingers gently stroking the back of her hand at the same time.   
Rey’s chest felt tight, knowing that she would miss him, perhaps even more than she would miss Millicent.   
“We’ll still talk after the holidays, right?” she asked, hating the idea that they’d go back to being strangers.   
He nodded. “Of course,” he assured her. “If you can find my hiding spots, that is.”  
She chuckled, knowing that he was sincere. “You’re on.”


	3. Vacation

Hux’s friendship with Rey survived a year. Though they were never quite as close as during the winter holidays, they shared smiles whenever they passed each other in the corridor, and sometimes they would even sit together in the library. On some rare occasions, Rey found Hux in one of his hiding spots. There was one on the fourth floor, an alcove in an abandoned corridor, where he would often read. Sometimes he even brought Millicent with him, and Rey was always delighted to see her tiniest friend again. According to Hux, Millicent still slept with Rey’s old scarf near her each night. Wherever he’d put the scarf, Millicent would sleep. And Millicent was always happy to see Rey as well, purring and bumping her head into Rey as much as she could.   
But the friendship between this Slytherin and Ravenclaw wasn’t accepted by most of their friends. Hux had Phasma and Kylo, and especially Phasma didn’t approve of Hux mingling with Ravenclaws, muggleborns or younger students – and Rey was all of those.   
At the same time, Rose and Finn were opposed to Rey hanging out with Slytherins, and whenever they caught Rey smiling at Hux, they would scold her, reminding her of how Slytherin had annihilated Gryffindor at Quidditch by cheating. Rey didn’t care. Not only because she wasn’t in Gryffindor like Rose and Finn, but also because she didn’t care about Quidditch, and neither did Hux. She wouldn’t hold him accountable for the results of his house’s sports team.   
So when the castle emptied out again on the first day of the winter holidays, Hux and Rey found each other in the Great Hall, smiling widely at one another, and he immediately invited her to play chess with him.   
She’d never before played chess with him, and afterwards she didn’t know if she ever wanted to again, for he completely annihilated her. He was gloating as he won, but Rey didn’t really mind that. She was just happy to spend time with him without having to explain herself to her friends, and it seemed like he felt the same.   
They went for a walk, and at dinner they both sat at the Slytherin table. Six other students were sitting at the Gryffindor table, four Gryffindors and two Hufflepuffs, and Rey proposed: “Would you like to see the Ravenclaw common room? There’s no one else there this year.”   
Hux nodded eagerly, and Rey couldn’t hide her smile, and when they were done eating, she took him along.  
Hux was surprised that – in order to enter the Ravenclaw common room – they needed to answer a question instead of give a password – and Rey admitted: “Sometimes it’s hard to get in. But then we wait for someone else to get it right. That’s a bit difficult when I’m the only Ravenclaw in the castle though.”  
“Don’t worry,” Hux said with a smile. “In the worst case scenario, you can come and sleep in the Slytherin common room. You did last year too.”   
She didn’t need to be reminded of that. It was one of her fondest memories at Hogwarts, and even if the carpet they had slept on was nowhere near as comfortable as her bed, it had been warm and cozy and she hadn’t felt alone, being so near to Hux and Millicent, and she loved it.  
As they sat in the sofa in front of the fireplace, Rey said: “I have a confession to make.”   
“Oh?”  Hux wondered what was on her mind, and edged a little closer as she had a mysterious smile on her face.   
“Remember how last year I told you that I hated Christmas?”  
He nodded.   
“I don’t hate it as much anymore. In fact, I’ve been looking forward to it this year.”  
His entire face lit up at those words.  
“I feel the same way,” he admitted. “Not because of Christmas, of course.”  
“No, not because of Christmas,” she quickly agreed. “But because we have the entire castle to ourselves.”   
“And we even get to see common rooms we’re otherwise not welcome in,” Hux said as he gestured around him, taking in the sight of the strange but beautiful common room.   
“We don’t have to do homework,” Rey added.   
“And we can finally hang out without our other friends getting in the way.”  
Rey nodded in agreement to that, and Hux was glad that was off his chest.  
“And we can also go exploring and play with Millicent,” Rey sighed happily. “I know it might sound a little silly, because this holiday has just begun, but I’m already looking forward to next year as well.”  
Hux’s smile faltered a little at that, and where his gaze had been happy before, he suddenly looked a little miserable, and Rey picked up on it straight away, tilting her head curiously.  
He shook his head, shooting her a miserable look.    
“I… I can’t,” he said sadly. “My father has big plans for next year. He’s taking me on a vacation – of sorts. I have to meet his boss at the First Order. And during summers, I’ll be expected to work there as an intern because I’ll be fifteen then, and sixteen by the time the summer holiday begins.”   
Rey’s face fell, the idea of spending her winter holidays without Hux a dreadful one. She pouted slightly, even if she’d rather not in front of him, and he took her hands in his.   
“I’m so sorry,” he apologized. “I’d rather be with you too… But I was hoping you’d take care of Millicent while I’m gone? Father doesn’t want her near. This summer, I let Millicent stay in the Slytherin common room. Maz the house elf took care of her, though I missed her so badly.”   
That didn’t cheer Rey up, but it did distract her a little, and she said: “I’ll be happy with Millicent’s company. But I’ll miss you.”  
“And I’ll miss you,” he admitted. “But I’ll write to you, I promise.”  
She smiled at that. She always received plenty of letters from Rose and Finn, but she knew none would matter as much as Hux’s letters. She still feared that next holidays would be horrible, but right now they still had these days to enjoy each other’s company, and to explore all of Hogwarts.

 

 

The holidays that followed the year after were rather dreadful for the both of them.  
While Rey spent her days in the presence of Millicent, reading and walking and thinking of Hux, Hux found himself in the company of Kylo Ren and Phasma as they had also been invited for an internship.   
Hux’s father had insisted that he’d bring two friends along, and though he had suggested Rey as one of the first, his father had laughed at him. She was too young, and too muggleborn and not ambitious enough. The First Order only had former Slytherins in its employ, and there was nothing about Rey that Hux’s father found intriguing.   
To Armitage, she was the most wonderful being on the planet, but he wasn’t certain how he could convince his father of that without sounding like he was in love with her.   
And maybe, just maybe, he was.  
Meeting Snoke, the leader of the First Order, was a little nerve-wracking. The man was a Legilimens, and it seemed like he saw right through Hux, sneering at him as he praised Phasma for her resilience and strength, and Kylo Ren for his magical powers. Hux wasn’t fortunate enough to receive any compliments, and it stung.   
Plans were made for their holiday jobs, and accommodations would be provided by the First Order itself. Those accommodations were welcomed by all three of them, if only because it meant they wouldn’t need to spend their summers at home. Phasma and Kylo rather didn’t stay with their parents either, and that was something the three of them had in common.   
Hux wondered if that was what Snoke was looking for as he molded Phasma and Kylo to his liking with his compliments and challenges.   
He didn’t write it down in his letters to Rey, but he did tell her of the great food and how much he missed her and how he wished it was her who was with him instead of Kylo and Phasma, and how he wasn’t certain if he wanted a future with the First Order.   
In response, he received a letter where Rey asked him what the First Order did precisely, and Hux began explaining that the First Order provided a variety of services where the Ministry of Magic failed. They provided security where the Ministry lacked, and offered their services for hire to wealthy wizards. They gathered intelligence, had a department that made nothing but potions, and a department that had magical creatures in its care so they could be trained for helping out during magical interventions, but also whose hairs, feathers and more were used in spells and elixirs.  
“It sounds like the First Order is ready to take over from the Ministry, should it ever fall,” Rey had written.   
Hux had replied: “I do think they’d be able to stop the country from falling into chaos. I think that’s why Snoke is so fond of Ben. His mother is a senator at the Ministry, a bit of a legend, and the fact that Ben detests her so much thrills Snoke. He detests the Ministry too, and it feels like he wants to adopt Kylo. I bet he would if he could.”   
“Are you jealous?”   
Rey knew him better than he had imagined, and he was honest in return.   
“Because I once again feel unwanted? What ever gave you that idea.” He didn’t regret the sarcasm in his letter.   
Her reply, however, warmed his heart more than he had thought possible: “You’re not unwanted, not by me.”  
“I can’t wait for this vacation to be over, and to be back at Hogwarts with you,” he had written.   
“I’ll see you on the fourth floor the day you’re back,” she had decided for him, and that was where he had gone straight after he’d gotten off the train with Kylo and Phasma. They had taken his bag with him, and hadn’t asked questions as he had said that he had some other place to be, and Hux was happy for the moment alone when he found Rey and Millicent in his alcove, and to his surprise, she welcomed him with a big hug, and he found that he didn’t want to let go as he wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her neck, glad that she was no longer as tiny as she had been the years before. Though still a head smaller, she had grown a lot, in more ways than one.   
“Welcome back,” she said softly, and he didn’t know why his eyes stung with tears, or why he felt so warm inside.   
Maybe it just felt like coming home, and as he realized that, he muttered: “I never wish to go on a vacation like this again. Not without you. I hope I never have to either. Next time I’ll stay here.”  
But Rey knew that they would only have two more Christmas holidays together before Hux would graduate, and she wasn’t certain how she was going to deal with all Christmases after that. The thought only made her hug him closer, and they didn’t let go for a long while.


	4. Mistletoe

Being a sixth year filled Hux with a sense of dread. He knew that he only had one more year at Hogwarts, but after that, he wasn’t even certain if he’d ever see Rey again. Sadly enough, he only really hung out with her during the Christmas holidays, and the way Phasma scolded him whenever he looked at Rey during the year had only gotten worse.  
The way he felt butterflies whenever he saw Rey had only gotten worse as well.  
When he was alone in his bed, he thought of Rey, and whenever he saw her in the Great Hall, his day got so much better. Each day that he missed a glimpse of her, he wanted to die.  
And on the rare occasions where they would meet in the library, he knew that his cheeks were burning up for as long as she sat by his side.  
Rey couldn’t explain it either, but whenever she was alone with Hux, she just wanted to talk to him, to tell her all about her day in the hopes of being on the receiving end of one of his smiles.  
Every time she saw him, before he noticed her, he always had such a serious look on his face, often with a big frown on his brow as he listened to Kylo or Phasma, and he always seemed to be either stressed or depressed.  
That look would always lighten when their eyes met.  
But when they were together, truly together in the library or their hidden alcove, he always seemed so much younger and happier, and she felt like she was twelve again and he was thirteen and they were taking care of Millicent, young and innocent and… Well, they still were young and innocent, in some ways, though Rey had to admit that she sometimes dreamed things that she was ashamed to admit to anyone.  
With Christmas sneaking up on them, she was looking for all the spots in the castle where she could find mistletoe. There weren’t that many.  
One of the doors to the Great Hall had mistletoe above it, but it was the least private door in the castle as well, and she didn’t want anyone to witness her first kiss, or to risk bumping into one of the Gryffindor boys that was staying for the holiday.  
Then there was another door on the third floor and another on the fifth where they had hung some mistletoe, but she couldn’t imagine how she’d get Hux to follow her there. She could try to take him on a walk to those spots, and then kiss him there, but he’d know it was a setup. It would be too obvious.  
She wanted it to feel more natural than that, she wanted to feel relaxed around him, and she wanted him to feel relaxed too, and so she made different plans.  
On the day before Christmas, she decided to steal some of that mistletoe, to hang it in their alcove on the fourth floor instead.  
Unfortunately, they weren’t the only ones in their common rooms this year, and so they had needed to move out, and their little alcove had become a comfortable pile of blankets and pillows, with a Christmas wraith as decoration and three lanterns to light up the place. It was perfect for reading and playing with Millicent, and they had spent many days of their holidays in there, just chatting and enjoying each other’s company, sometimes in silence, sometimes in laughter, and it seemed like they couldn’t grow sick of one another.  
It was a little frightening how well they got along, but terribly exciting as well, and Rey hoped that a kiss would not ruin what they had.  
As she went to steal the mistletoe from the fifth floor, she realized that it was gone, or maybe she had forgotten the exact door where it had hung, and she cursed to herself, hoping that there would still be some left on the third floor.  
Luckily, there was, and as she undid it from the doorpost with a wave of her wand, she happily skipped back to their alcove on the fourth floor. The alcove was hidden from view from the corridor by the large tapestry that hung in front of it, and as Rey stood in the alcove with the lanterns lit up, she looked up at the ceiling, but there was no hook or anything to hang mistletoe from. She considered hanging it on the tapestry itself. Maybe she could already achieve such a thing if she had a needle to pin it, but it wasn’t ideal, and she stood there for a few moments, considering what the best thing to do was.  
Then, her heart suddenly stopped beating. She could hear footsteps in the distance and realized that it was probably Hux. Hiding the mistletoe behind her back the moment he opened the tapestry to step inside, she didn’t dare to breathe, and the moment he saw her, he turned red in the face, looking like he was going to explode as he stood there with mistletoe in his hands, ribbon and tape attached to it so he could tape it to the ceiling.  
As Rey suddenly realized that _he_ had been the one that had stolen the mistletoe from the fifth floor, and that he had wanted to hang it in their alcove just as much as she had wanted to do the same, her heart fluttered in joy.  
Hux, however, seemed to be dying from embarrassment, hardly able to look at her.  
But in her eyes, he had nothing to be ashamed of, and as she slowly moved her hands in front of her again, she showed him the mistletoe that she had brought along herself, and as he realized what she was holding, his eyes lit up and he looked at her with an incredulous gaze.  
Rey put her mistletoe on the alcove bench, before she took his and climbed onto the bench, leaning on his shoulder to balance herself as she stuck his mistletoe on the ceiling above them with trembling hands. When she jumped down again, he held onto her to steady her, and she felt a little breathless as she realized he had his hands on her hips. She brought one hand to his cheek, feeling how his skin was burning up from excitement, and he hardly dared to breathe as he looked at her.  
Slowly, she guided his face down to hers, and neither of them dared to break this silence as they gently touched their noses together before Hux leaned in completely to kiss her.  
To Rey, it was even better than her dreams, and it didn’t take long before she wrapped her hands around his neck, moving her wet lips over his warm ones, loving the way her skin tingled underneath his touch. She felt heat pool together in her core and didn’t want him to stop.  
Hux couldn’t believe how lucky he was, and part of him feared that any moment now, he’d wake up and it would turn out to be a dream. His body was raging with adrenaline and he knew that part of him wanted more, but another part of him was growing embarrassingly hard for her, and he wasn’t certain how to deal with that without rushing away. Eventually, he was the one that broke their kiss, after minutes of enjoying it more than he dared to admit.  
Hux looked through half-lidded eyes from her to the empty alcove bench, and Rey knew him well enough to take his hand and sit down with him, not letting go of his hand this time.  
She had touched his hand plenty of times before, but this time, today, it was hers, and she held it in her lap as she sat beside him and looked at him.  
His cheeks were still red, and he looked a little anxious, but also happy, and Rey smiled.  
As she looked up at the mistletoe again, that smile only grew wider, and he followed her gaze and smiled as well before he looked at the bit of mistletoe she had left on the bench opposite them.  
“I didn’t realize… you wanted it too,” he admitted, his voice a little hoarse from emotion and desire, and she just nodded.  
While one hand held onto his, the other slid over his leg, her body desiring more than just one kiss, amazing as it had been.  
“I still want it,” she whispered, looking at his lips, and as he realized what she meant, he leaned in again, pressing more kisses to her lips in order to sate her thirst, and his own.  
But they were only sixteen and fifteen years old, respectively, and they were madly in love, and neither of them was used to physical affection. Maybe that explained why both of them craved more.  
They kissed for well over an hour, and by the end of that hour, Rey was sitting on top of him, her knees on either side of him and her cloak off as she’d felt rather hot and wanted him to appreciate her even more, and he had his hands on her bum, not quite daring to touch her beneath her skirt, even if he felt how she pressed her bum into his hands, her breaths needy and full of desire between their kisses.  
He was soaking wet for her underneath his trousers, and part of him wanted to excuse himself to go and take care of it in a nearby bathroom, and another part wanted to come right then and there.  
But his lips were starting to hurt, and he pulled back, shaking his head a little.  
“If my father heard about this – he’d probably kill me.”  
Rey raised an eyebrow. “For kissing a girl you like?”  
Hux’s expression fell, and he was dead-serious as he said: “For actually loving someone, I suppose.”  
Rey’s expression fell as well, that confession not one she had expected to hear just yet, and she wasn’t certain how to respond to it. She loved him too, of course, but it didn’t seem like the right time to celebrate that while he was thinking of his father punishing him for it.  
“He says emotion is weakness,” Hux continued, casting his eyes down. “But I don’t feel weak for loving you.”  
He said it again, and Rey wanted to return it, but she wasn’t sure how.  
“I don’t think it’s weak,” she said softly. “It’s brave.”  
Hux chuckled as he considered what a Gryffindor compliment that was, and he shook his head.  
“My father would also say I’m too young to love, but I’ve known it since the day I met you, in a way. You and I… we’re the same sort of person.”  
Rey smiled happily, full-heartedly agreeing with that.  
“Hux…”  
He stopped overthinking the situation and looked at her instead, and she softly said: “I love you too.”  
She’d never seen him look happier, and as she kissed him again, he returned it, but not for as long as she wanted to, for he pulled back after a minute.  
“My lips are getting sore,” he admitted, his voice a little whiny. “Maybe… maybe we should slow down a bit.”  
Rey chuckled. She had to admit that she’d been a bit over-eager, maybe.  
“Are we… are we a couple now?” she asked him, and he hesitated.  
“In my heart, yes, but I’m not sure I want Phasma and Kylo to find out. They can tell Snoke, and he can tell my father, and then I’m in for a lot of trouble.”  
Rey knew that Hux’s father wasn’t a good man. She didn’t have the full history, but she had heard Hux hint that as a child, he’d been beaten by that man, and the emotional abuse was even more apparent.  
She didn’t want him to get in trouble with his father over her.  
“We’ll keep it a secret,” she promised him, figuring that it would be easier for her as well to deal with Finn and Rose if they didn’t know she’d been locking lips with a Slytherin.  
“No one knows about this alcove,” Hux told her. “If we’re quiet, we can come here during the school year without being spotted.”  
She agreed, pressing a kiss to his cheek, and he blushed because of it.  
“We will,” she promised. “We’ll figure something out to be together.”


	5. Snowmen

Now that they were a couple, they spent more time in their alcove than ever. They kissed until their lips grew sore and were always touching when they were alone.   
When they were in the Great Hall, they pretended to just be friends, but it felt unnatural not holding hands or not standing very close as they spoke to one another.   
They even went to the Christmas feast together. Though they still weren’t big fans of Christmas, they could at least enjoy the good food together, and they had each other to talk to.   
But other than that, even their holiday routine of sitting together, kissing, grew rather stale as they spent too much time in the tiny alcove, with or without Millicent. They even became a little agitated, and Hux decided: “Rey, we should go outside today. As much as I love kissing you, I think we’re doing it a little too much and it’s going to become weird.”   
Rey was a little amused by how he said it, and she smiled because of it.   
“Actually, I was thinking something similar,” she admitted. “I’m just… I like it.”  
“As do I, but I also like chocolate a lot, and I don’t eat an entire room full of it in one go. We need to control ourselves a little better.”   
She nodded.   
“I understand,” she said. “We haven’t been reigning ourselves in – and no adults knew of this, so no one else stopped us either. I don’t want to ruin what we have though. I think it’s a good idea to do something else for a day, or even a few days. When school begins again, we won’t be able to spend entire days together either.”  
As they spoke about it, they realized they were still on the same page, and they made plans to head outside. A lot of snow had fallen the past days, and though they had intended to make it to the Great Lake, they didn’t get that far. The snow was just too much, and instead they decided to make some snowman closer to the castle. They didn’t make just one – or two – but got up to seven snowmen before they were frozen to the bone as well, and they were starving.   
Inside the Great Hall, they sat together with a hot cup of tea until their dinner was served, and as they ate some delicious rabbit and carrot stew, they were quite pleased with one another’s company.   
When it became time to go to bed, Rey asked: “Shall we sleep in the alcove tonight? It’s one of our last moments together before we won’t have all this time together again.”  
Hux had a frown on his face. “Rey, is that wise? We just agreed not to spend too much time kissing and…”  
“We don’t need to kiss,” she interrupted him, smiling. “We can just sleep together. Bring Millicent.”  
If he was being honest, he did like that idea very much. It was what they had done the first year they’d met, and that was still one of his fondest memories at Hogwarts.   
“Alright,” he agreed in a softer tone. “I’ll meet you in the alcove around midnight.”

 

He was first to arrive with Millicent, and as he put Rey’s old scarf down in a little pile, Millicent immediately sat down on it, turning a few times and kneading the fabric before she found a way to sit that she really liked, and she was quick to fall asleep. She did look up after a while, and Hux realized that it was because she heard Rey, even before he did.   
Rey had brought a small bag of clothing underneath her Ravenclaw robe, and as she was still in her skirt and sweater, she told him to close his eyes while she changed.   
He did what she asked him, respecting her wishes as he heard her shift about and put on her pajamas, and when she sat down on their makeshift bed with him, he whispered: “You’re not cold here? We don’t have a fireplace like in the common room.”  
“No worries, she whispered back. “We have plenty of blankets, and I have you this time.”  
He wasn’t certain what she meant, until she wrapped her arms around him and lay her head against his chest, holding him warmly in her arms.   
He approved of that very much, and had a pleased smile on his face as she put her head in the crook of his neck.  
“Yes,” he whispered. “This is very nice indeed.”   
They didn’t kiss, they just held each other – and it was perfect. They fell asleep within minutes, exhausted from building all those snowmen, and feeling incredibly blessed with the memories of the weeks they’d had together.


	6. Traditions

Hux’s last year at Hogwarts was passing by faster than he liked. He stole every moment with Rey he could get, but tried to keep it hidden from his classmates. And sometimes he was unable to sneak away, or she would get stuck in a similar predicament, leaving him waiting in the alcove for nothing.   
But when a Yule Ball was announced in November, they both agreed to go together. To hell with their friends and what people would say. Finn even asked Rey to go with him, which Rey found strange, as she had the impression that he liked Rose more, and Phasma asked Hux out, who politely declined and told her to ask Kylo instead.   
Kylo, surprisingly, approached Rey one Tuesday morning, before her Potions class, and asked her if she wanted to join him to the Yule Ball, and Rey had been completely flabbergasted as he had held his hand out to her and said: “I want you to join me.”   
Rey had declined politely, saying: “I don’t even know you… Besides, I’ve already got a date…” and Kylo had apologized and left immediately, not wishing to embarrass himself further.   
Rey hadn’t dared to tell Hux about it, knowing that he didn’t get along with Kylo very well, even if they spent most of their time doing homework together.   
Another side effect of organizing a Yule Ball was that more students than usual remained at Christmas over the holidays, and that was something that both Rey and Hux regretted as they sat in their alcove during the first day of their winter holiday.   
“Rose and Finn are still going home after the Yule Ball,” Rey told Hux. “So I’ll have them off my back in a few days.”  
“Wish I could say the same for Kylo and Phasma, but they’re glad to stay, actually. They don’t like their homes very much. I guess that’s the one thing the three of us have in common, because neither do I.”  
Hux was quiet for a few moments before he said: “I’m still afraid of what my father would do if he found out about you, but I don’t want to hide it anymore.”  
Rey looked up in surprise. That was brave of him, and she wondered why he said it now.  
He continued with a small smile: “I just want to take you to the ball, and to tell the world that we’re together.”  
Rey smiled. “You do realize that the chances of us getting away with our get-togethers in the alcove will become more difficult? Teachers might start watching us more.”  
Hux nodded. “I know. But I don’t want to hide in the alcove with you. I want to sit by the lake with you when spring comes. I want to walk hand in hand through the corridors. I want to sit with you during lunch and dinner. I will probably need to spend next year with Phasma and Kylo every day once our full internships start – I want to spend this year with you.”  
Moved by what he said, she leaned in and pressed a sweet and grateful kiss to his lips.   
“That’s one of the nicest things anyone’s ever told me,” Rey whispered a little emotionally. “I’d love to spend the rest of the year with you too – and if you are willing to face your friends about this, I’ll face mine too.”   
Pleased that they both decided to go for it, Rey added: “But I don’t want to embarrass you…” She seemed rather self-conscious all of a sudden. “I don’t have anything to wear to the ball. I have ten sickles for our trip to Hogsmeade tomorrow. I don’t think I’ll find a dress for that money. Why didn’t they announce it sooner? Maybe if I’d been able to save up for it…”   
She realized that she would have needed to save up for years even for the cheapest of dresses, and felt bad about it now. But maybe she could have done some homework for money, if only she’d known sooner.  
Hux’s eyes lit up. “Oh, don’t worry, darling! We can go shopping together. I don’t have anything suitable either, and my father sends me a ton of money each time there’s a trip to Hogsmeade. It’s not that he cares about me but he’d rather die than have anything think that the Hux’s are poor.”   
Rey hesitated. “Are you certain that that’s a good idea? Your father is very likely to hate me as it is, without buying a dress of his money.”  
“He won’t even find out,” Hux assured her. “Let’s just do it!”   
Rey couldn’t turn down such an offer. She wanted to be beautiful by his side, and if it wasn’t even Hux’s money, then she didn’t feel so bad about spending it.

 

By the time the ball came around, Rose and Finn couldn’t contain their curiosity at lunchtime in the Great Hall.   
“Come on, Rey! Tell us who your date is!”   
It wasn’t even a question, the way Finn said it, but Rey shook her head. “You’ll see tonight. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go to the common room to change.”  
Rose frowned. “Rey, you have five hours!”  
She smiled. “So? I want to have a bath, get my hair done… That sort of thing takes time. I will see you later!”  
She didn’t need five hours, not really, but she really just wanted to be at ease as she prepared for a wonderful evening.   
By the time it was six, she was dressed in a beautiful white gown, with long white gloves to go with it. It would have looked like a wedding dress, if it weren’t for the many green accents in the dress itself.   
Green, for Slytherin, the house of her love.   
Hux had been there when she had first fitted the dress, as she had been there when he had fitted his white suit with blue accents, but she hadn’t had her hair up like she did now, and she was even wearing a little make-up that made her eyes pop even more, and she felt beautiful as she left the common room.   
Hux was waiting for her in the hallway, his hands folded behind his back, and he smiled widely as she approached him, looking her over once more.   
“You look even more beautiful than I remember from when we bought it in Hogsmeade,” he said as he took her gloved hands in his.   
She admired him as well, the tall white boots and the long-skirted coat very elegant. He looked slender, but his shoulder somehow looked a little wider. Maybe it were the blue shoulder pieces that caused that.   
“I really like this,” she said as she touched it, and Hux immediately realized she didn’t know what they were.   
“Epaulettes,” he told her. “It’s often seen in old military uniforms. I think it was quite popular in the 18th century or so.”   
“Are your buttons real gold?” Rey wondered as she touched them, but Hux shook his head.   
“I don’t think so. But I’m not sure. It was quite expensive.”  
“You look like a prince,” Rey said with a happy smile. “Like we’re in a fairy tale.”  
“Maybe we are,” Hux replied mysteriously, kissing her cheek. “We have magic on our side.”   
“And love,” she whispered sweetly, and they followed that up with a gentle kiss.   
“Let’s dazzle the rest of Hogwarts now,” Hux said bravely, actually looking forward to finally revealing how much he cared for Rey in front of everyone else.

 

Once in the Great Hall, they walked proudly by each other’s side, many heads turning their way as they stood out in their pristine white clothes, and the way they were not wearing their own house colors, but each other’s, had everyone talking.   
They weren’t used to that sort of attention, but they enjoyed it none the less.   
Rose and Finn were looking at Rey with their mouths open, too baffled to approach her until she beckoned them over.   
When they approached, they looked at Hux in some sort of awe and fear, not only because he was a last-years and a head taller than them, but also because they had never spoken to him before, and he politely extended his gloved hand to them both.   
Finn was wearing a black tuxedo – and Rose was wearing a lovely red dress, but what they wore was muggle-made. What Rey and Hux wore, seemed much older and truly magical.   
“You both look so beautiful,” Rose complimented them. “How long have the two of you been planning this? You can’t tell me that the two of you just happened to pick outfits that accidentally matched like that?”  
Rey smiled. “Hux and I have been together for a while,” she admitted. “We bought it in Hogsmeade together.”   
Finn and Rose gasped. “Why didn’t you tell us sooner?!” he demanded to know, feeling like a fool.   
“Because you have expressed a dislike for Slytherins in the past, and because we weren’t ready to tell the world.”   
Finn glanced up at Hux, who didn’t seem particularly warm or cold regarding Finn, who couldn’t completely wipe the frown off his face.   
Rose was smiling happily though, beaming up at the two of them.   
“I do hope you’ll sit with us some other time,” Rose extended an invitation to Hux. “I would love to get to know you better.”   
Hux wasn’t used to such attention, and awkwardly nodded. “Of course,” he said politely. “I look forward to getting to know Rey’s friends.”  
“Let’s dance!” Rey suggested, hoping to save Hux further social embarrassment. A waltz was playing, and as they took to the dance floor, several students parted to let them through.   
They had practiced in the deserted corridor of the fourth floor for several nights, and dancing to actual music came a lot easier than they had expected. As they whirled around, they laughed and were happier than ever, continuing for several more dances before they decided to have a drink.   
At the punch bowl, they found Phasma and Kylo, both sipping off their drinks, but something about their gazes and the way they held themselves betrayed that they had drank many, too many, glasses of punch already.   
Both of them looked rather hurt, and Hux felt a little guilty.   
“Are you two alright?” he asked, before he continued: “Did you come together?”  
“Not as a couple,” Phasma immediately said, as though it was very important to her that everyone knew that.   
“Yeah we’re here together out of patheticness,” Kylo added, sounding miserable. “Unable to get normal dates.”   
Even Rey felt sorry for him now, the memory of him asking her out, holding his hand out to her, one that made her feel bad for rejecting him.   
It wasn’t like she wasn’t happy with Hux – because she was delighted – but she could also imagine how crappy it had to be to be rejected, and she wasn’t certain how many other girls he had asked to go with him.   
“I don’t think you’re pathetic,” Rey said warmly, and at this he looked up in confusion. “You’ve been brave enough to ask people, and just because no one said yes this time doesn’t mean that no one ever will. Maybe you’ll still find some nice girls around Hogwarts, and if not, then an entirely new world will certainly open up to you next year. There’s still time.”  
Kylo gulped, not certain what to say to her kind and encouraging words, and even Phasma seemed impressed by Rey’s eloquence.   
“I’m Phasma,” she said as she extended her hand to her, and Rey shook it with a warm smile on her face.   
“Rey,” she introduced herself, also shaking Kylo’s hand, though he added: “I knew your name.”  
Rey wasn’t certain how he had learned her name, but she wasn’t going to ask.   
“So are you two just dates?” Phasma asked suspiciously, looking at their outfits. “Because it seems like there was quite a bit of coordination in getting the two of you to look like that.”   
Hux admitted that they had bought their clothes together at Hogsmeade, and that they were a couple.   
He also insisted that they’d keep it to themselves for now, because he didn’t want his father to go mental about it and send him a howler, and Phasma and Kylo swore not to say anything to Snoke or Hux senior – and Hux was happy for it.   
They excused themselves for more dancing until there was a small speech by the headmaster, who told them of the Yule Ball tradition, and how it had accompanied the Triwizard Tournament, but how they had abandoned such a barbaric tradition several decades earlier, after too many casualties had already fallen.   
The speech didn’t last too long though, and soon there was another live band who played Christmas songs as well as slows to which Hux and Rey danced in each other’s arms, their gazes locked in happiness as they swayed together over the dancefloor.   
“This Christmas isn’t so bad,” Hux said softly as they were dancing to the final song of the ball, before everyone would be sent to their common rooms.   
“To be honest,” Rey replied. “No Christmas is ever bad, when I’m with you.”  
It was sweet, but also heartbreaking to Hux. Because he knew that in a year, he would no longer be at Hogwarts, like her, but he promised himself then and there that he wouldn’t just accept that.   
Maybe there was a way to spend Christmas with her. He just had to find the loophole.  
After all, certain traditions, like spending Christmas with Rey, should never be broken. 


	7. Gift

It was a relief to be out in the open with Rey for once. He no longer needed to spend all his time with Kylo and Phasma, and they even seemed to be understanding whenever he excused himself to spend some time with Rey.  
They were especially forgiving because they knew Rey was alone after Rose and Finn had left to celebrate Christmas at home, and they even greeted her politely whenever she would walk over to Hux.  
During the Christmas dinner, they all sat together, opening crackers and talking about the amazing food. In the week that followed, she went out for many walks with Hux, often spending some time kissing on the other side of the lake, far from prying eyes, and when it was the final day of the holidays, they were very quiet as they walked hand in hand.  
“Our last Christmas holiday together,” Rey sighed sadly as she looked out over the lake. “This is how it all started, you and me, on a walk, finding Millicent.”  
Hux paused. “Not really,” he contradicted her. “It started in the kitchens, after we had both pretended to be sick so we wouldn’t need to go to the Christmas dinner with the other students.”  
She chuckled. “I have to say that after we became friends, Christmas dinner has improved greatly. I’ve even come to enjoy it, in some way.”  
“Likewise,” he admitted with a chuckle, but their smiles dropped as they considered the possibility that next year, things would be different.  
The thought remained to haunt Hux even when they were back in the castle, and though Rey wanted to spend some time together in their alcove, Hux excused himself.  
“Why don’t you take Millicent and go there already? I’ll meet you in an hour or so.”  
“An hour?” She frowned. “Why so long?”  
“Maybe I’ll tell you in an hour,” he said mysteriously, and as he winked at her, she felt even more confused, but agreed.

 

 

It took longer than an hour before he finally arrived in their alcove, and Rey put her book to the side, Millicent sleeping in her lap, with her old scarf nearby, and thus preventing her from getting up.  
Hux looked rather thrilled as he sat down by her side, and said: “I have a gift for you!”  
“A gift?” Rey looked at his hands, but he wasn’t holding anything, until he went into his pocket and pulled out a small envelope.  
“Open it,” he encouraged her.  
As she did, she suddenly realized it was a permission slip – but it wasn’t signed or anything – and she frowned as she tried to make sense of it.  
“Read it,” he said anxiously.  
“This is something my guardian needs to sign,” Rey said, feeling rather confused until she saw that it wasn’t a permission slip to go to Hogsmeade, but a permission slip to spend Christmas with Armitage Hux. As her eyes went wide, Hux grinned.  
“I checked with our Headmaster, told him how we’ve spent every Christmas together for the past five years, and that I’d love to see you again next Christmas holidays and invite you to my home.”  
Rey was happy, but there was a worried crease on her brow. “Your home? But what about your father?”  
Hux shrugged. “I’ll check that with him next year. He might be out on business, and he won’t be around much, I assume. But we can still spend Christmas together this way, and you’ll have your first proper Christmas holiday in forever, I assume?”  
Feeling giddy with excitement, Rey threw her arms around him (startling Millicent, who jumped up at the sudden motion and meowed loudly in protest) and couldn’t hold back a few tears.  
“Oh, Hux, this is the best gift I ever could have asked for. I was so depressed thinking I wouldn’t be seeing you at all next year.”  
“As was I,” he admitted, kissing the side of her head. “If you let me know which days you’re in Hogsmeade, I’ll see if I can make it for a short visit. It will only be a few times a year, but I’ll take every moment I can get with you.”  
Rey hugged him tighter than she’d ever hugged anyone in her life – just as he cared more about her than anyone else ever had. She didn’t want to let go of that.  
“You’re the best boyfriend ever,” she said emotionally. “Thank you so much.”  
“No thanks,” he replied with a smile. “It’s all for rather selfish reasons, you see. I wouldn’t want to be without you for so long.”  
She wasn’t going to argue with that, and remained in his arms. Maybe their time together at Hogwarts was coming to an end, but that only meant that their greatest adventures were about to begin.


	8. Fireplace

Their last months at Hogwarts flew by, and before Rey knew it, she was back at the orphanage for her summer holidays, the last time before she’d find her own place, and she missed Hux terribly.   
But in order to get her permission slip signed, Hux did drop by the orphanage on a hot July afternoon, to meet the head warden, a 40-something woman who was quite impressed by how polite Hux was and how much Rey seemed to dote on him. As Hux explained that he would pick Rey up from Hogwarts so they could celebrate Christmas together, the warden explained that if by November, Rey still wanted to come, she would sign the paper and they could spend the winter holidays together.   
Rey was certain that she wouldn’t change her mind, and she didn’t, though she had to admit that Hux’s letters at the beginning of the school year were rather brief sometimes, and he only ever seemed to talk about her, not going into any detail regarding his father or his work.   
They met at Hogsmeade on Halloween, and as they walked around town, shopping was the last thing on their mind. They were just glad to spend some time together, and when Rey asked him if his father was alright with her dropping by for Christmas, he said: “We won’t be staying at my father’s place. Don’t worry about that. You won’t need to see him.”  
Something about the way he said that sounded final, and so Rey didn’t ask about it.   
When the Christmas holidays finally arrived, Hux actually came to pick her up at Hogwarts itself. The majority of the students, including Rose and Finn, travelled home by train, but Rey was, as usual, an exception. The two Gryffindors still waved at Hux before they boarded, and wished the two of them a merry Christmas before the Hogwarts Express took off.   
A few moments later, Hux was carrying Rey’s small bag over the path through the Forbidden Forest that led to Hogsmeade, and Rey was incredibly curious.   
“Where are we going?” she wondered. “Are we taking a portkey?”   
“No,” he replied with a small smile, making Rey even more curious.   
“Are we flying there?”  
“No,” he said again.  
“Do we need to take the Knight Bus?”  
He shook his head.   
A little confused, but still happy to be with him, she laced her fingers with his as they walked into Hogsmeade, and Rey suddenly said: “Are we staying at the inn?”  
Hux chuckled. “No. But you’re getting warmer.”  
Her eyes lit up at that. “We’re staying in Hogsmeade?”  
“Close,” he replied with a chuckle, giving in to her questioning. “We’re staying at a cottage not too far from there. But I figured that maybe we could have some lunch at Rosmerta’s before we head there? It’s still over a mile.”  
Rey was glad to take him up on that offer. After all, it was freezing cold and she wouldn’t mind sitting down and warming up before they continued their little journey.   
Once they were at the inn, they settled down at a table in the corner, and Rey was just happy to be with him and stare into his eyes, the first long look she had given him in months, but she noticed that something in his eyes seemed different. He had dark rings underneath them and seemed tired, and as she looked at him full of empathy, he realized why.   
“I have been working very hard,” he said. “But I’ve got two weeks off now, so it doesn’t matter. I just need to get my head away from the First Order. Three hours ago I was still working. I got up very early this morning so I could finish the last paperwork I needed to do. But I’m ready to leave that behind me while I’m with you.”  
She smiled warmly and put her hand on his, gently rubbing over his knuckles with her thumb to relax him.   
“And your father? Does he know you’re spending Christmas with me?”  
He was quiet for a long while.   
“Not really.”  
Another frown spread across her face, and his eyes seemed even darker then.   
“We had a falling out of sorts, last summer,” he admitted. “He sort of kicked me out – not that I had ever intended to stay with him. It’s a bit awkward at work sometimes, but I manage to avoid him the majority of the time, and he pretends I don’t exist when he does spot me. That’s nothing new, actually. At least Snoke is eager to use my talent, so I’m not afraid I’ll be out of a job soon.”  
That sounded horrible to Rey, and she worried: “Was I the reason for the falling out?”  
Hux shrugged. “It was more than just you. Even without you, it would have gone wrong between him and me, I’m certain of it. He never wanted me in the first place, but I finally have the age for him to kick me out, I guess.”  
Rey sighed sadly. “I’m sorry. I thought maybe this was the first Christmas you could spend with family.”  
Without missing a beat, he looked up with wide eyes. “But Rey, you’ve always been better company than any family I had.”  
She smiled warmly. “The same goes for you.”

 

 

When they walked to their cabin after a lovely lunch at Rosmerta’s, they noticed how the sky was completely white – without a single spec of blue.  
“It’s going to snow,” Rey said, and Hux agreed.  
During their trip to the cottage, they were lucky enough to have clear weather, but just as the cottage came in sight, the first snowflakes began to fall, and as Hux opened the door, Rey was surprised to see the fire already burning and to see a house elf she was rather familiar with.   
“Maz!” she said warmly as she took her hat and scarf off. “What are you doing here?”   
“Looking after Millicent, of course!” Maz said with a wide smile. “It was good to see her again.”  
Millicent had been sleeping in a corner of the room, but at the sight of her master and Rey, she immediately walked over to them, stroking Rey’s legs so eagerly that Rey feared she was going to fall over the cat as she moved around the small cottage.   
“Your boyfriend sent me nice owl asking for my help in getting the cottage ready. I could not refuse. You’ll find that I’ve stocked your fridge and that the entire cottage is spick and span.” She raised a warning finger at Hux. “Don’t mess it up.”  
He chuckled. “Of course I won’t, Maz. Thank you so much, once again.”   
Maz patted the back of Millicent’s head one more time before she suddenly vanished with a snap of her fingers, and Rey took the time to take in her surroundings.   
There was a wooden table with four wooden chairs around it, a small kitchen in the corner, a fireplace with a large sofa in the other corner, as well as a large animal skin on the floor in front of the fire, and there were two more doors.   
“Bathroom,” Hux explained, opening the door to reveal a cozy little bathroom with a small wooden tub and a toilet and sink, and then opening the other door, to reveal the bedroom. “Bedroom,” he stated with a smile.   
Rey’s heart pounded a little faster. This was different from what she had imagined. She had thought she’d stay at Hux’s enormous mansion, the one he had told her about on only a few occasions. She had imagined having a room to herself, but here… it appeared she’d be spending her time in very close company to Hux, not to mention that the presence of only one bed left her hoping they would actually share it.   
“It’s wonderful,” she said warmly, but as she looked around, she said: “There’s no Christmas tree!”   
Hux chuckled. “We’re in the middle of the forest, I’m certain we can find one. Besides, it’s still a few days until Christmas.”  
She smiled at that news, glad that they wouldn’t be skipping over the festivities altogether. She wanted to create some new traditions with him this way – and was glad she was in such delightful company.   
As Millicent meowed, Rey bent down to pat her favorite cat, and Hux smiled at the sight as he carried her bag to the bedroom and then proceeded to inspect the kitchen.   
“Do you know how to cook?” he asked her, and as she shook her head, he said: “I’ve learned how to – a little bit – over the past months. I’ll teach you.”  
Glad they would have an occupation, and that she would learn some new things, she walked over to him to hug him, and he gladly returned her hug.   
“Thank you for doing this,” she whispered against his chest. “It’s nice knowing I’m not forgotten for once.”   
“I could never forget you,” he assured her. “You belong with me.”   
She remained quiet as she agreed with him, closing her eyes as she rested warmly in his embrace for a good while longer.

 

The days leading up to Christmas were busier than Rey could have imagined. They went out for a Christmas tree, headed into Hogsmeade to buy some decorations, spent a great deal of every day cooking for themselves and then prepared for Christmas by making some cookies with colored frosting and preparing other treats and starters. They went out for walks, played cards and checkers, read books and sometimes did absolutely nothing as they sat in front of the fire, in each other’s arms, enjoying the quiet.  
The nights leading up to Christmas were full of a different sort of tension. Though they slept in the same bed, they didn’t make a move on one another.   
Rey had expected him to make a move, and maybe he had expected her to be the one to do it, but for some reason, they kept their physical distance.  
During the day, there were plenty of kisses and cuddles, but at night, there weren’t any.  
On Christmas Eve, they sat on the warm deerskin in front of the fireplace, a hot cup of cocoa in hand and Millicent in Rey’s lap, their glances betraying just how happy they felt to be with one another. Hux no longer seemed to have dark rings under his eyes, and he looked younger and happier than the day he had picked her up. Rey looked bright as she felt completely loved by Hux and Millicent, and the only thought that made her heart ache was the one that they already had less than two weeks before she needed to say goodbye to him again.   
“I don’t think I’ve ever been happier than I’ve been these past few days with you,” Rey admitted as she set her cup down on the small table behind them, and Hux did the same as he had just finished his drink as well.  
“I think the same goes for me,” he replied, moving closer to her to put his arm behind her back. “I was thinking… if you’re going to study in London after the summer, I should get my own place there. Would you… would you like to live with me?”  
There was no doubt in her mind that she would like that, and she nodded so eagerly that Millicent woke from her nap, and she jumped off Rey’s lap in frustration, instead going to her scarf, which was curled up underneath the Christmas tree.   
Hux’s gaze followed Millicent as she lay down to sleep again, her back turned to the happy couple, and when he looked back into Rey’s eyes, he saw her tears, though they were glad ones.   
“I would love to live with you,” she said, her voice hoarse from emotion. “No one has ever wanted me to live with them.”  
Hux knew she had spent her childhood in an orphanage, hoping her parents would return – or that someone else would take her in – but she had never been so lucky.   
He, on the other hand, had also longed for family his entire life, and now with Rey, it seemed he had finally found some.  
“Of course I want to live with you,” he said with a smile. “I’ve always wanted to be with you, since the day we met. And now we can really be together, and form our own little family.”  
She hugged him tight, and he wrapped his arm around her.  
“You, me, Millicent,” he continued, sighing happily. “It’s always been the three of us together. With you two by my side, no one else matters.”  
His words comforted her, and she had never felt more loved than at that moment.  
“Thank you,” she whispered. “For letting me be a part of your family.”  
He kissed the side of her head again as he held her. “I will make you my wife someday,” he continued, not a shred of doubt in his tone.   
Rey only hugged him tighter because of that, and as she sobbed in joy, he could only hold her.  
“I will take care of you, I promise.”

 

The evening was emotional, and by the time they went to bed a few hours later, Rey still wanted to cuddle him, and after they had taken turns in the bathroom to get ready for bed, he realized that Rey was practically lying in his spot.  
“I kept your side of the bed warm,” she told him as she moved to the side, and as he lay down, he realized that she was still very close, her arm immediately around him again the moment he lay down and turned off the lights. In the complete darkness, he tensed a little while her body was so close to his, her hand gently rubbing his chest warm.  
She suddenly stopped. “Your heart is beating so fast,” she stated, and he could only gulp.   
“Yes,” he continued, and without hesitating a moment, he added: “Could you move to your side of the bed please?”   
It came out a little harsher than intended, and he noticed how she froze completely by his side.   
“I don’t want to cuddle,” he excused himself, and at this, the silence that came from her began to worry him.   
“Fine,” he heard her reply, her tone colder than ever, and he noticed that she didn’t just move to her side of the bed, but rolled out of it and left the bedroom, slamming the door shut behind her.  
His heart was still hammering in his chest, but for a completely different reason now. He hadn’t expected her to get so upset about it. Feeling terribly guilty, he crawled out of bed as well and took a few deep breaths before he moved to the door and gently pushed it open.   
She was rearranging the pillows and blankets that were usually on the sofa to the warm spot in front of the fireplace. The sofa was too small to use for sleeping, and apparently she had made up her mind to sleep away from him.   
She didn’t look at him, but he looked at her and saw how she had pierced her lips together in anger, and how her cheeks were white with rage.   
He felt guilty, and he sighed, not knowing where to begin.   
That sigh made Rey snap though. “Fuck off, Hux,” she said cruelly, laying down in front of the fire and not gazing at him as she instead stared into the flames. “You can sleep alone all you want. I’ll make it easier on you.”   
He shook his head, trying to avoid a headache as he pinched the bridge of his nose.   
“It’s not that, my love,” he said softly. “I’m afraid of taking it a step further,” he admitted. “Especially now that you’re still at Hogwarts. I wouldn’t want to get you pregnant and then have you take your final exams with a big round belly. That would be horrible for your reputation, and mine. My father would kill me.”  
As she listened to him explain it like that, she understood a little bit better why he had pushed her away. As with most things, his fear of his own father had contributed to his strange behavior.  
“Hux…” She turned to look at him, but didn’t invite him to sit with her. “You seem to forget that there are ways in which a woman can prevent a pregnancy. There are potions for that sort of thing, and I could easily take one in the morning to prevent any round bellies. And I could always head into Hogsmeade and get more. There’s nothing harmful about them, and I agree that I don’t want to be pregnant. Not now, and not in the near future either.”  
He felt a little stupid now. He had honestly not heard of any such potions, but then again, his interest in women hadn’t been that great, and that part of education at Hogwarts had always been lacking. He’d been interested in Rey but had never bothered to learn much about preventing pregnancies.   
“Oh.” He stood there a little lamely as he proposed: “Join me in bed?”  
She shook her head slowly, but her lips curled up into a small smile. “Join me in front of the fireplace.”   
He felt a little numb as he walked over to her and knelt down by her side, and as she sat up then, he met her lips shyly, noticing how she wasn’t feeling shy at all.  
It seemed like she took the lead, sitting down in his lap as they kissed, and he was reminded of their first kiss in the alcove. She had been so hungry then, and she only seemed hungrier now.   
And like then, he was growing painfully hard in just minutes, realizing that she was fully aware of it too. In fact, she was grinding against him, even if they were fully clothed still.  
“Won’t you take my pajama shirt off?” she suggested in a playful whisper, and his mouth was dry as his trembling fingers found its way to the buttons of her pajamas, unbuttoning her shirt one button at a time before he slowly opened her shirt further, revealing her breasts to him. She was looking at him with a smile, trying not to tease too much about how red his cheeks or ears had become, and when he suddenly bent forward to press a few light kisses on the skin of her breasts, she took a shaky breath.  
“Oh Armitage, that feels so nice…”   
Her voice was weak and his kisses grew a little fiercer, trying to elicit little moans of approval from her, and she happily gave them when they were earned. After many minutes of teasing and playing, he sat up to kiss her lips again, and she happily shared more passionate kisses with him.  
They helped each other out of their shirts, and though they were entertained by the soft skin of their bellies and backs for quite a long while, they grew hungry for even more. Their long pajama pants were the next things to go, until they were only left in their underwear, with a warm blanket around them as the room was cooling down and the fireplace grew a little darker.   
He knew she was damp for him, just as she knew how hard and wet he was for her, and though they had begun teasing each other through their underpants, they were both waiting for the other to take the lead in taking it further, and as they wanted to seduce the other one into taking the next step, their kissing only grew more passionate and urgent, and their soft moans sent floods of warmth pooling between their legs.   
“I want you,” Rey was the first to say, her core throbbing in desire for him now, and she knew her panties were soaking.   
He finally helped her out them, and let his hand rest on her patch of curls for a small moment before he moved his index finger a little lower and deeper, exploring her carefully while she looked into his eyes. She whispered secrets to him of what she liked, and he tried to do what she told him, tried to learn what she was instructing him to do, and he realized that she was giving him great tools for her pleasure later on.  
She stopped him before he could make her come though, and as he took off his own pants, they switched roles. Now it was up to him to tell her what he liked, but it was difficult to stay focused when her touch felt so amazing. He stopped her too before she got him too close to an orgasm, and they spent a while longer kissing before he eventually lined up to her entrance and linked them together. Rey moaned for him, more and louder than he had imagined she would, but it thrilled him.   
He was as gentle as he knew how to be, and she had her hands on his cheeks as she looked at him with her mouth open, trying not to moan too loudly, even though the way he was rocking his hips against her was deserving of all the praise and encouragement she could think of.  
When she came, she threw her head back, clinging to him as she mildly shook against him, her cheeks burning up as she avoided his gaze during her own pleasure, and he followed not long after, nearly collapsing on top of her as he emptied himself within her, panting in her ear and whispering words of love.  
“I love you too,” she said softly with her hand cradling the back of his head, gently kneading her fingers through his hair in a display of affection, and he pressed a few soft and tired kisses to her cheek.   
“That was… pretty good, right?” he panted, and he smiled as he felt her chuckle beneath him.  
“More than good, my love,” she replied happily, holding onto him. “We must give it another shot tomorrow.”  
“We must,” he agreed, rolling off of her as he looked at her in the dim light of the fireplace. It was about to go out, and he hated the idea of not being able to look at her the way she lay there so happily, but he was quite exhausted after their long night together.  
“Shall we return to the bed?” she proposed as she stretched and yawned, looking blissfully happy, and he smiled.  
“Yes, of course. And this time I’ll let you cuddle me all you want.”  
She chuckled. “You better.”


	9. Epilogue

Ten Christmases earlier, twelve year-old Rey had met thirteen year-old Armitage at Hogwarts.  
This Christmas would be the first that both of them could say they were no longer at school, not at Hogwarts, nor at college or university, and they lived together quite happily in a small house in London.  
Their living room was quite the sight. A large Christmas tree stood in the corner, Christmas cards from their friends decorated the hearth above the fireplace, and in the center of the table, they had laid out the perfect Christmas turkey, with some mashed potatoes, cauliflower and carrots and peas to go with it. While Hux was fussing over the cranberry sauce, Rey was pouring them some elven mead, just feeling happier than ever to celebrate what in some ways felt like their ten-year-anniversary, and to reminisce about a time when Christmas had been the most horrible time of the year.  
But since then, Rey had never felt alone anymore, and Hux had been there for her every step of the way. The moment she had left Hogwarts, he had invited her into his tiny apartment, the place where he had lived after breaking with his father.   
It had been a few rough years for Hux, and his father had only recently died, but even then, Hux seemed mostly relieved because of it. Even if Hux’s father had voiced his disdain for Rey at every chance he got, he had not taken his son out of his inheritance – or maybe that was just because he had not imagined to die so quickly. The circumstances of his death had been rather weird, and Rey noticed that Hux never really wanted to talk or speculate about it, but she didn’t push for it either.   
There had been more changes at the First Order. Snoke had died too – another death which had come as quite a surprise to all, and Kylo Ren had taken over command of the company, with Phasma as second in command. Young as they were, the trio of Slytherins now controlled most things that went on in the company. Hux hadn’t even minded much to have to answer to Ren, and had been happy to just build his life with Rey in his off-time without having to worry too much about taking full responsibility of the company his father had helped build.  
Without Rey, he was certain it would have been him and not Kylo at the helm of the company, but right now he was happy with where he was, and especially who he was with.  
Rey’s job was less stressful than Hux’s. She tended to magical plants, and her green thumb was an asset in the green cases where she worked, for no plant was allowed to die on her watch.   
There was some Christmas music on in the background while they ate and talked about the good food, and when they were done with their dinner and dessert, they sat on the couch, holding each other close while they just stared at the Christmas lights and enjoyed the warmth that came from the fireplace. Millicent lay purring on their lap, and they talked softly with one another, sharing sweet kisses every now and then, planning their wedding, planning their future.  
It was a perfect day, and one they were delighted to share with one another. It was the first of many Christmases that they were both finally and completely free. The first of all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading the story! It has now come to a conclusion!   
> I hope you weren't expecting too much more from the epilogue, but unlike JK Rowling I don't want to be TOO specific with the epilogue.   
> ("Maz Phasma Hux, you were named after the house elf that helped raise Millicent and the lady that helped kill your granddad because he was a jerk, and you will be awesome too because they were both awesome.")  
> (Yeah no I would never do that to you. XD)
> 
> I really hope you enjoyed this little fluffy fic of Reyux, and hope that if you liked it, you'll let me know. I might write more Reyux in the future, but nothing's certain yet.


End file.
